Their First Christmas
by abbellimenti
Summary: Snarry, extreme fluff! Snape gets Harry something to make Christmas unforgettable. Warnings: slash duh and lots of cuteness


Snape smiled as he opened his gift from Harry: a set of crystal flasks with his name engraved on them in shiny silver lettering.

"They're beautiful," he whispered in awe, picking one up from the box they came in and delicately twirling them around between his long fingers. Harry marveled at the elegant way his lover handled them; he knew that he would have been scared of dropping them. Hell, he was nervous just carrying the box with them even though they had an unbreakable charm on them. However, Snape carried that air of aplomb around him that Harry had always been drawn to.

When Snape was done admiring the gift and giving thanks, he looked at Harry. His face had the look of a cat presenting a mouse to its owner, but Snape knew that he was dying with curiosity about what his gift could be.

"Well, I suppose you'll be wanting your present, then." Harry nodded briskly. He knew that Snape had been hiding something in his potion's laboratory lately, which was no doubt his gift. His suspicions were confirmed when Snape said, "It was not something I could exactly wrap. If you could, please sit still for a moment, however hard it may be for you."

While Snape went to retrieve the present, Harry reflected on how anxious he felt. _This is my first true Christmas_, he thought to himself. _I never knew Christmas at the Dursley's other than cooking and cleaning, and the ones at Hogwarts were never this exciting. And it is certainly better than last Christmas, where I was spending my first year out of Hogwarts not trying to find a job, but trying to find Voldemort. Being able to relax with the one I love knowing that the threat of darkness has gone is amazing. I thought this perfect feeling was only one you see in Muggle films!_

Harry's thoughts were interrupted as he watched Snape return to the room. He was levitating a huge box with a sheet covering the entire thing. Harry wanted to jump up and rip the sheet off, but he held himself back.

Snape carefully lowered the box to the ground, sat down behind it, and gave an encouraging look to Harry. Harry reached out, pinched the sheet, and lifted it from the box.

But it wasn't a box. It was a fish tank, and inside was one of the most angelic fish Harry had ever seen. The fish was about the size of his hand and colored bright yellow. It had a snout that seemed to be kissing the gravel lining the bottom of the tank.

"This is called a Zebrasoma flavescens, or as you would probably prefer to call it, a yellow tang," Snape explained to Harry, who could not take his eyes off the tank. His face was practically against the glass of the tank. The fish seemed to suddenly realize it was being watched and darted away behind an artificial plant.

"Aw," Harry said. "Have you not been spending a lot of time looking at him . . . or her? It seems quite shy." Harry opened up a flap at the top of the tank meant for feeding the fish, and stuck his finger in. Cautiously, the fish swam up to his finger and kissed it once before swimming away. Encouraged, Harry followed the fish with his finger and stroked the top of the fish's fin.

"You are one of the most bizarre people I have ever met. I don't know anyone that's ever actually pet their fish," Snape held back a laugh, not wanting to seem like he was finding it amusing.

"Well, what is it? A boy or a girl?"

"A girl."

"Hmm," Harry pondered for a minute. "What about Kassidy?"

"Pardon?"

"You know, as a name for the fish."

This time, Snape couldn't even hold back a chuckle. "You're naming the fish? What, is it going to come when you call?"

"No!" Harry cried defensively. "It's just . . . who has a pet without a name?"

"I prefer to think of it as a decoration," Snape said dryly.

"I'm sure you'll think differently when it's living with us on the dresser in our bedroom."

Snape frowned. "Oh no I won't. There will be no fish in our bedroom. When I'm watching you beg for me in the throes of passion, I don't want to see some fish swimming around in the corner of my eye, watching me at my most intimate moments. I was thinking it would do better in the library."

"Fine. I'm sure you have food for it?"

"Right now the food is charmed to put a sufficient amount in the tank twice a day by itself. But I'm sure you'll insist on feeding it yourself and bonding with it, so I guess I can lift the charm."

"Hm. But what if I forget to feed it and wake up in the middle of the night running to the library? Then I would probably be accidentally waking you as well, and then you would suspect that something suspicious was going on . . ."

"I wouldn't think it was suspicious, just a little fishy."

Harry was too wrapped up in his thoughts to notice the bad pun. He was beaming.

"This really means a lot to me, you know. 20 years old and I've never even had a pet! Of course I'm going to spoil you rotten, aren't I?"

It took Snape a second to recognize that the last line was for the fish. He watched Harry stick his finger in the tank once more and move it around. The boy gasped in delight as the fish followed it. Snape smirked to himself. He would pretend to feel indifferent about the fish, but he secretly was thrilled that he got Harry a gift that would make this Christmas one he wouldn't forget. After all, it was his first true Christmas. The Snapes were never really ones for celebrations, and just out of habit, he usually spent Christmas alone. However, now that Harry had graduated and Voldemort was defeated, he was finally able to settle down with the boy he had fallen in love with years ago. It was the first time in Snape's life that he could really say he was happy with the way everything was. And judging from Harry's look, Snape speculated that he felt the same way.

Getting up from where he was sitting, Snape went to sit next to Harry. He grabbed the boy's free hand and intertwined the soft fingers with his own. Harry looked up from the tank and instead focused his attention on Snape's eyes. He was used to having to read emotions in those eyes, since Snape found it hard to express what he was feeling in words.

"I love you too," Harry sighed contently. He took his finger out of the water and gently wrapped his arms around his lover. Snape returned the action, feeling at peace. With other lovers, he always seemed to be fishing for something to say in these affectionate moments. With Harry, though, everything just always felt right. This is where he belonged, and this is where Harry belonged. Snape knew somehow that they were meant to be together, and this is where they were destined to be for every Christmas to come.


End file.
